Improvement in mowing-machines



" STATES IMPROVEMENT IN MOWlNGeNl/CHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 124,678, dated March 19, 1872.

` from the bottom; and Fig. 3 is a rear view of the machine, the cutter-bar being shown in dotted lines at the right-hand side thereof.

This invention relates to certain improvements in mowing-machines and consists7 rst, in providing the fra-me of the machine with two standards, having sockets for the reception of a stock, in the upper end of which a lever has its fulcrum; said standards also having thumb-screws, used for holding said stock at anydesired elevation in the respective sockets; the object of this part of the :invention being to permit the lever to be used at either side of the machine for the purpose ot' `raising the arms to which the finger-bar is attached; secondly, of a seat-raiser, composed oi" a steel stra-p, to which the seat 1s secured, and two iron rods bent in a rectangular form,

'the feet of said rods being arranged to work in four slotted blocks secured to the platform of the machine, two of said blocks being provided with set-screws, and also with ianges on their outer edges; the object of this part of the invention being to permit the seat, when attached to the seat-raiser, vto sway from side to side, so that when the wheel on one side ot' the machine is on lower ground than the wheel on the other side the seat will still retain a position parallel to the platform on the frame of the machine.

In the drawing, A is the frame of the machine. B B1 B2 are the lugs on the frame A, to which one end of the arms O and C are secured by bolts, so as to turn, being, in fact, hinged; the other ends of said arms C and C being secured in a similar manner to the lugs D and D on the inner shoe E on the lingerbar F. One end of the linger-bar F enters a space in the lugD between the end of the arm C and the bottom of the lug D, and rests on one ofthe anges, G, on the shoe, the end of said linger-bar F being securely fastened to the shoe E by bolts passing up through the bottom of said shoe. The lug B is cast upon the under surface of the rectangular projection K, at the rear of the frame A. The lug B1 is cast upon the under surface of the righthand side of the frame A; and the lug B2 upon the under surface of the left-hand side of the frame A. One end of the arm C is held by a bolt in the lug B cast on the under surface of the rectangular projection at the rear of the frame A 5 the other end of arm O is held similarly in the lug D on the inner shoe E. One end of the arm C is held by a bolt in either the lug Bl or B2, accordingly as the finger-bar F is operated at. the left-hand or right-hand side ot'- the machine The other end of the arm C is held by a bolt in the lug Dl on the inner shoe E. The opening o in the outer shoe H, through which the outer end of the finger-bar F passes, is surrounded by a flange, p, through which bolts are passed to secure the shoe to the linger-bar. rIhe recess a in the shoe H in which the knives play is made in the same plane with a line drawn from the center of the toe ofthe shoe to the center of l the heel of the same, dividing it longitudinally into two equal parts, so that the knives are equidistant from the top and the bottom of said outer shoe. The finger-guards I have the recess b, in which the knives play, equidistant from the top and the bottom of each nger-guard, the upper and lower curves which forni the point ofthe guard being equal. The same is true of the curves of the outer shoe H. By the arrangement of the recesses a and b, and the construction of the outer shoe H and the finger-guards l, the knives may operate as freely, and will cut as closely to the ground when the finger-bar is turned upside down as when it is right side up. The'inner 'shoe E has the recess e, in which the knives play, a distance from the bottom of the shoe E equal to the distance between the recess a and the top, or the recess a and the bottom of the outer shoe H. The inner shoe E is hinged by the bolts before mentioned to the arms C and Ol, and can be turned to fold the nger-bar so that the latter will rest upon the rectangular projection K at the rear of the frame A. Standards L L', provided with sockets d, d and thumb-screws e e', are placed upon the rear corners of the frame A, one standard upon each rear corner. A stock, f, having a shouldered head in which a lever, g, has its fulcrum, fits into the socket d or d; and the thumb-screw e or c can be tightened to hold 'it at any desired elevation, thereby enabling u. the operator to regulate the position of the finger-bar more precisely than he could otherwise do, should the length of the chain and the location of the notch in which the power end of the lever g is held cause the fm ger-bar to occupy a position either too high or too low. N N are plates, one being placed on each front corner of the fra-me A, to which the tongue of the machine can be attached to suit the draft of the machine, whether it is upon the right hand or upon the left hand. r r are the iron rods of the seat-raiser, bent rectangularly in form, their feet resting in slots in the iron blocks s s and t t', secured to the platform O. The blocks t t are provided with setscrews a u for regulating the distance. Rods r r are to move sidewise in the slots, and also to hold them entirely stationary when desired. The blocks t t are also provided with anges o fu', which prescribe the limits within which the rods 1 r are to sway. A steel strap, S, extending from the rod 1* to the rod 1^', connects the two, and its ends are hooked or coiled around said rods so as to permit them to turn within said hooks. A seat, J, is secured to the strap S.

In Figs. 1 and 3 the inger-bar F is shown right-side up at the left side of the machine, the arms C and C being secured to the lugs B and B1. The lever g is secured to the stock f, which occupies the socket d in the standard L, and the tongue of the machine is attached to the plate N.

In order to change the finger-bar to the right-hand side of the machine, remove the bolts from the lugs B, B1, and D, remove the short pitman h, and withdraw the finger-bar F from the inner shoe E, rst having withdrawn the bolts which secure it there; also unhook the chain from the hook on the end ofthe lever g. Place the arm C in the lug B, keeping the same side of the arm up, and pointing the outer end thereof to the right side of the machine. Turn the arm C over-that is to say, cause the end thereof that has been attached to the lug B1 to describe a semicircle, and it will then extend to the left side of the shoe E, from which it is not necessary to detach it. Place the end of the arm C in the lug B2 and bolt it there. Bolt the outer end of the arm C to the lug D on the shoe E. Insert the end of the finger-bar F inthe space it formerly occupied between the end of the arm C and the bottom of the lug D. To do this the iinger-bar must be turned upside down. Insert the bolts which secure the finger-bar and secure them. The long curved pitmanz' must now be used, the pitman h being too short. The inner shoe E must remain right side up. The nger-bar is novT upside down, but, owing to the construction ofthe finger-guards I and sleeves E and H, it will cut as closely to the ground as before. The stock f, to which the lever g is secured, must also be changed from the socket d in the standard L to the socket d in the standard L', and the chain hooked to the end of the lever g, as before. The tongue of the machine should also be changed to the right-hand side. The platform 0 is slightly elevated above the frame A. Q Q are curved notched racks, used for retaining the powerend of the lever g in the desired position to hold the finger-bar up from the ground. R is a lever for throwing the machine in and out of gear. A

Having thus described my improvements, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The standard L, provided with the socket d and thumb-screw e, in combination with ithe stock f, lever g, and frame A, for the purpose hereinbefore set forth.

2. A seat-raiser for a mowing-machine, composed of the steel strap S provided with hooked or coiled ends, rods r r bent in rectangular form, blocks s s and t t', the latter being provided with set-screws u u and flanges o o', all arranged relatively one to the other, for the purpose hereinbefore set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing improvements in mowing-machines as above described I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 27th day of September, 1871.

LAFAYETTE GORDEN.

Witnesses:

D. ALsPAcH, EDWI'N TEAL. 

